F 

127 
HsJ5 



:B 



H U DSON - FU LTON 



CELEBRATION 



ie09-180T-190Q 







A Souvenir Prepared 

BV XH e 

fre:e: public library 

OF- 

JERSEY CITY 



m 




Class 


Fan 


liook 


1 

■ H^Js 


PRKSKNTI-l) l)Y 



/ 



o ' .:•! / 



SAIL AND STEAM 

An Historical Sketch showing New Jersey's 

connection with the events commemorated 

by the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 

September 25-October 9, 1909. 

( Second Edition ) 




Prepared by the 

FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
OF JERSEY CITY 



1" 






^< 



The following papers were compiled from records and 
documents owned by the Free Public Library of Jersey City, 
by Edmund W. Miller, Assistant Librarian. 



Gift 
The Li^irnry 



fitRSS OK A.J. DOAJJ. 



New Jersey and the Hudson=Fulton 
Celebration, 



Few people appreciate the prominent part that New 
Jersey has played in the events that are to be commemorated 
at the Hudson-Fulton celebration. The Hudson River is 
looked upon by many as belonging exclusively to New York, 
and it is forgotten that twenty-three miles of the most im- 
portant part of the shore is on the Jersey side of the river. 
The second largest city on the Hudson is Jersey City; and 
here are situated the terminals of the principal railroads which 
bring the traveller to the Hudson River. Many of the largest 
and swiftest ocean steamships which bring visitors to the 
beautiful Hudson from all over the world land at Hoboken, 
New Jersey. The largest section of the Palisades, one of the 
most celebrated scenic featuresof the river, is situated on the 
Jersey shore. 

Many of the events which made the Hudson River so 
prominent during the Revolution were enacted on Jersey soil. 
One of the most celebrated of these occurred at Jersey City, 
when in August, 1779, a handful of patriots under the leader- 
ship of Major Harry Lee captured the forts at Paulus Hook 
from the British. 

In those incidents connected with Fulton's introduc- 
tion of steam navigation which are to be commemorated 
during the celebration, this state has had an important share. 
New Jersey, located as it is, between the Hudson River on the 
one side and the Delaware River on the other, and supplying 
the direct line of travel between New York and the north, and 
Philadelphia and the south, has always been vitally interested 
in navigation. Its contribution to the progress of river trans- 
portation has been especially noteworthy, in spite of the 
serious handicap due to the monopoly granted by New York 
State, which for many years prevented the use of any steam- 
boat on the Hudson River not controlled by Fulton and his 



associates. One of Fulton's most formidable rivals for the 
honor of introducing steam for propelling vessels was a Jersey- 
man, Colonel John Stevens, of Hoboken. It was also Colonel 
Stevens who built the first steam ferry boat, which he used 
on the Hoboken ferry for a short time. The first permanent 
steam ferry ever operated was the Jersey City ferry, for 
which Robert Fulton designed and built the boats. Fulton 
had his work shops in Jersey City and it was in this city that 
much of the machinery which he used in his early steamboats 
was made. 

According to some of the best authorities the "Cler- 
mont" was fitted out and completed at these shops, and many 
of her early trips were made from Jersey City. 

It is believed that the following pages will show that 
New Jersey has played no small part in the many glorious 
events that have made up the history of " De Groote Rivier." 




HENRY HUDSON. 

Nothing is known of the early life of Henry Hudscn. in 1607 
in a small vessel with ten sailors he tried to find a short passage to 
the East by the way of the Northern Ocean. In 1608 he made a sec- 
ond voyage and reached Nova Zembla. In 1609, in the service of the 
Dutch East India Company he made another attempt to find a north- 
east passage, but reaching the coast of America, he steered south- 
ward, and discovered the river which bears his name. He made a 
fourth voyage in 1610 and discovered Hudson Strait and Bay, which 
were also named after him. Being stopped by the ice, he attempted 
to spend the winter on the shores of the bay, but running short of 
provisions he started to return home in 1611. But his men mutinied 
and taking possession of the ship, set Hudson and his son and some 
others of the crew adrift in in an open boat. Nothing was ever heard 
of their fate. 




ROBERT FULTON. 

Robert Fulton was born in Little Britain, Pennsylvania in 1765. 
His father died when Robert was three years old. When he was sev- 
enteen years of age he became a miniature painter, and was so suc- 
cessful that by the time he was twenty-one, he had saved enough money 
to buy a small farm for his mother. Soon after he went to England 
and studied painting under Benjamin West. He soon abandoned paint- 
ing and devoted himself to mechanics. Among his inventions were 
machines for spinning flax and making rope; a mill for sawing and 
polishing marble; submarine bombs or torpedoes; and a submarine boat. 
In 1796 he went to Paris, where he remained for several years. While 
here he made a number of experiments in connection with steam navi- 
gation. In 1806 he returned to America and in 1807 launched the "Cler- 
mont" which made a trip to Albany and back propelled entirely by 
steam. This was the beginning of practical steam navigation. Fulton 
built a number of other steamboats after this. He died in New York 
on February 24, 1815, and is buried in Trinity church yard. 



5AIL AND STEAM; 

An Historical Sketch Showing New Jersey's 
Connection with the Events Com- 
memorated by the Hudson- 
Fulton Celebration. 



If any of the Indians living along the shores of what is now New 
Jersey had looked across New York Bay on the evening of September 
2nd, 1609, a scene would have been disclosed which would have filled 
them with amazement and dread. Slowly moving over the placid 
waters was an object which seemed to the simple-minded savages like 
a gigantic bird and which they doubtless thought was a visitor from 
the spirit world. The strange looking object was Henry Hudson's 
ship, the " Half Moon," as it sailed up the bay after months of vain 
search for a short route to China. 

Even to modem eyes the scene would be a strange one and the 
spectator of the present day would be amazed at the sight of the odd 
looking ship, and filled with wonder that anyone could have the courage 
to venture over thousands of miles of dangerous and unknown waters 
on such a frail craft. 

On the 8th of January, 1609, an agreement was drawn up be- 
tween the English navigator, Henry Hudson, and the Dutch East 
India Company. Under this agreement the Com- 
The Half pany was to furnish, provision and man, a vessel of 

]^oon sixty tons, and Hudson was to command the vessel 

and explore a "passage to China by the north 
around the north side of the Nova Zembla ! ' ' On April 4th Hudson 
sailed from Amsterdam, Holland, on the "Half Moon." This ves- 
sel, destined to become so celebrated, was a shallow, almost flat- 
bottomed, sail boat about 63 feet long and 17 feet beam, with a ton- 
nage of 46 tons. 

The crew was composed of sixteen men, half Dutch and half 
English. It appears that Hudson was not familiar with the Dutch 
language and in his communications with the majority of his crew he 
was compelled to rely upon his mate, who acted as interpreter. Un- 
der these circumstances it is not surprising that his control over his 
men was weak, and it was not long before there were signs of a 
mutiny. For several months fruitless efi'orts were made to find the 
passage to China, and during this time the course of the vessel was 
changed several times because of contrary winds and the mutinous 
crew. Reaching Greenland, they sailed south along the coast, arriving 

5 



at Cape Cod about August 6th and at Chesapeake Bay, August 28th. 
Then they sailed north and finally came within sight of the Jersey 
shore. 

On the 2nd of September the "Half Moon" anchored off the 
Highlands of Navesink, and the first recorded reference to the land of 
New Jersey is made by the mate, Robert Juet, the chronicler of the 
voyage, when he says in his journal : " This is a good land to fall in 
with and a pleasant land to see. " The next day they made a landing, 
but whether on the New Jersey shore or on Long Island or Staten 
Island is not known. 

Several days were spent in exploring the lower bay and the ad- 
jacent islands ; during which time one of the sailors named Coleman 

was killed in a fight with the Indians. On the 11th 
Httdson at they passed through the Narrows and anchored 

G3inmunipaw ^^^ar the mouth of the Kill Von Kull. The next day 

they sailed six miles further and anchored near 
Communipaw. They were evidently struck with the beauty of the 
country around Communipaw, for the following entry appears in their 
journal : "This is as pleasant a land as one may tread upon ! " On 
the afternoon of the same day they weighed anchor and entering the 
river ascended as far as Weehawken, where they stayed for the night. 
The next morning at 7 o'clock they continued their voyage and an- 
chored for the night "in sight of a high point of land which showed 
out to us, bearing north and by east five leagues off us." This was 
without doubt what is now known as Indian Head, the highest point 
of the Palisades. They continued up the river, passing the Highlands, 
and on the 15th they "passed high mountains which lie from the 
river's side." These were probably the Catskills, and this is the first 
mention made of these mountains by white people. On September 
19th they finally reached the neighborhood of the present city of Al- 
bany. This was the highest point reached by the " Half Moon," but 
small boats were sent out which explored the river for nearly twenty- 
five miles further. The "Half Moon" remained in the vicinity of 
Albany until the 23rd of September, when the return voyage was be- 
gun. On October 4, 1609, Hudson passed Sandy Hook and putting 
out to sea bade farewell forever to the river which he had discovered 
and which has made his name immortal. 

Two hundred years later another boat made a voyage up the 
Hudson river which in its importance and far reaching effects equaled 
the great voyage of Henry Hudson. As the "Half Moon" had 
aroused the terror and amazement of the Indians, so the "Clermont" 
as she moved up the river in August, 1807, belching forth clouds of 
smoke and flames, excited the wonder and surprise of the crowds 
along the shore, who little thought that "Fulton's Folly" would 
prove to be the greatest invention of the century. 

Like most other great discoveries and inventions, the honor of 



first applying steam to the navigation of vessels has had many rival 
claimants. Fulton himself never asserted that he 
Steam was the inventor of the steamboat. His pre- 

Navigation eminence is due to the fact that he was the first to 

make it successful. Where most of his predeces- 
sors had only outlined suggestions on paper or at best only reached the 
experimental stage, he built a practical working machine, and 
changed a vague theory into a successful business proposition. 

In Admiral Preble's exhaustive History of Steam Navigation 
the names of forty persons are recorded as having either suggested 
or experimented with steam for the purpose of propelling vessels, 
previous to the year 1807. 

The earliest name mentioned is that of Blasco de Garray of 
Spain, who in 1543 is said to have propelled a boat by wheels moved 

by a caldron of boiling water. Careful investiga- 
Denis Papin, tion has failed to show that steam or boiling water 
J 707 w^s the motive power; but it seems evident that 

paddle wheels were used, but they were probably 
worked by men. The first steamboat of which there is any authentic 
record was navigated on the River Fulda, in Prussia, in 1707. This 
boat was built and operated by Denis Papin, a French engineer. 
Though this boat was successful he only received ridicule and abuse 
and the vessel was destroyed by some boatmen who were suspicious of 
what might arise from the invention. 

Among the many names connected with the origin of steam 
navigation may be mentioned Jonathan Hulls, an Englishman, who 
obtained a patent for a steam propelled boat in 1736, which, however, 
never received a practical trial ; Perrier, a Frenchman, who con- 
structed a vessel propelled by steam in 1775, but which was unsuc- 
cessful ; the Marquis de Jouffroy, who built a steam vessel in 1781, 
which was approved by the French Academy of Sciences. In 1784 
Mr. James Rumsey of Virginia exhibited a model of a boat to be pro- 
pelled by steam, to some visitors, one of whom was George Washing- 
ton. Rumsey afterward obtained patents for this boat in the United 
States and England. 

In 1785 John Fitch presented to the American Philosophical 
Society of Philadelphia a model of a machine for propelling a boat by 

steam. Fitch tried to obtain assistance in further- 
John Fitch, ing his invention from the Legislatures of Virginia, 
J 785 Pennsylvania and Maryland, but without success. 

On March 18, 1786, the Legislature of New Jersey 
granted Fitch the exclusive right to make and use any kind of boat 
propelled by steam, in the waters of New Jersey for fourteen years. 
He formed a stock company and with its aid commenced experiments. 
On the 27th of July, 1786, he placed a small boat or skiff on the Dela- 
ware River propelled by oars or paddles, which were moved by a steam 



engine. This was the first boat successfully propelled by steam in 
America. Fitch continued his experiments and im- 
Fitch's First provements and in 1788 built another boat which ran 

Boat, J 786 by steam from Philadelphia to Burlington, about 

twenty miles. This was the longest trip made by 
any steamboat up to that time. This boat made a number of other 
trips. In 1789 Fitch built another boat which after some alterations 
was put in use on the Delaware River in 1790. Under a test she at- 
tained a speed of eight miles an hour, and afterwards she was run re- 
gularly as a passenger and freight boat for several months. Toward 
the end of the year she was laid up and never used again, there not 
being sufficient patronage to pay the expenses of running her. In 
August, 1791, the United States Government granted Fitch a patent 
for the application of steam for the propulsion of boats, for a term of 
fourteen years. Fitch afterward built another boat which was given 
a trial in the summer of 1796, on the old "Collect Pond" in New York 
City. This pond was situated near the present Canal street and has 
since been filled in, and built upon. The trial was made in the pres- 
ence of a number of prominent persons and was successful. The 
boat made a circuit of the pond several times. This boat was about 
18 feet long and was operated by a screw-propeller. 

Fitch died in 1798. He did not live to see steam navigation be- 
come a practical success, but in his autobiography uses the following 
prophetic words: "The day will come when some more powerful man 
will get fame and riches from Tuy invention, but nobody will believe 
that poor John Fitch can do anything worthy of attention." 

In 1802, William Symington constructed a steamboat for tow- 
ing vessels on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. This vessel, 
which was named the "Charlotte Dundas," had a paddle wheel in the 
stern and was a complete success. When not towing other boats she 
attained a speed of six miles an hour. She appears to have been the 
fii'st steam towboat ever made. 

In 1787 Colonel John Stevens, of Hoboken, while driving along 
the Delaware River saw the steamboat invented by John Fitch pass- 
ing up the river. His curiosity was aroused and 
John Stevens, following the boat to the landing he examined the 
jyoy strange craft and at once became interested in the 

subject of steam navigation. When he first began 
his experiments he had not had much practical experience in me- 
chanics, so he hired trained machinists to assist him. This method 
soon proved unsuccessful; his first engineer was a drunkard, and the 
second became sick and died. Stevens then decided to depend on his 
own resources and building a shop on his own grounds employed work- 
men under his immediate supervision. 

In 1789 Stevens petitioned the New York Legislature for a grant 
of the exclusive privilege of using steam for navigation in the waters 
of New York, but without success. A few years later the New York 

8 




JOHN FITCH'S FIRST BOAT AS SEEN ON THE DELAWARE RIVER. 

(From an Old Print.) 



• 



/. 






fe"^*^V>'' 



\ 

1 








COLONEL JOHN STEVENS. 

Colonel John Stevens was probably the greatest engineer of his 
time. Of English descent, he was born in New York City in 1749. 
During the Revolutionary War he held several important offices. In 
1784 he bought the land where the city of Hoboken now stands and 
soon after made his home there. In 1790 he petitioned Congress for 
protection to American inventors, and this resulted in the passing of a 
law in April, 1790, which was the foundation of the present patent 
law. Besides his many inventions in connection with steam naviga- 
tion, he patented the multitubular boiler in 1803; in 1813 he designed 
an iron clad ship similar to the "Monitor" type afterward built by 
Ericcson; in 1817 he obtained a charter, the first in America for a rail- 
road from the Delaware to the Raritan; in 1823 he secured a charter 
for the incorporation of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1826, when 
nearly eighty years old, he built a steam locomotive, which he opera- 
ted on a circular track on his estate at Hoboken. Passengers were 
carried and a speed of twelve miles an hour was attained. This was 
the first engine and train ever run in America. Colonel Stevens died 
at Hoboken, March 6, 1838. 



Legislature offered the exclusive privilege to any one who would 
build a steamboat which, complying with certain conditions, would 
attain a speed of three miles an hour. 

In conjunction with Robert R. Livingston and Nicholas L 
Roosevelt, Stevens in 1798 built a steamboat which made a trial trip, 
but was too slow to fulfil the conditions imposed. In 1801 Livingston 
went to France, having been appointed Minister from the United 
States, and Stevens continued his experiments alone. 

In May, 1804, Stevens built a steamboat which navigated the 
Hudson propelled by twin screws. It had tubular boilers, the first 

ever made, and two propellers each five feet in 
Stevens Screw diameter, and each having five blades. The engine 
Prooeller Boat ^^ ^^^^ boat was carefully preserved in the Stevens' 
^ „p. . ^ Institute of Technology. Forty years later, in 1844, 

it was placed in a new vessel modeled on the plan 

of the first one and, without having the slightest 
alteration, was worked successfully, the boat attaining a speed of 
eight miles an hour. This experiment was made in the presence of a 
committee from the American Institute and is a proof of the wonder- 
ful skill and care used in the construction of this machinery. In 1807 
Colonel Stevens in conjunction with his son Robert L. Stevens built a 
paddle wheel steamboat which he named the "Phoenix." This was 
placed on the Hudson and successfully operated only a few days later 
than Fulton's voyage of the Clermont. Owing to the monopoly of 
steam navigation in the waters of New York which Fulton and 
Livingston had obtained, Stevens was prevented from using this boat 
on the Hudson River. In 1809 he conceived the bold idea of taking 
the boat under steam around Cape May to the Delaware River and 
thence to Philadelphia. The vessel was manned by a small crew 

under the command of Robert L. Stevens. They 
First Ocean were caught in a severe storm but succeeded in 

Voyage by making a harbor at Barnegat where they remained 

Steam until the storm was over, when they continued their 

voyage, arriving safely at Philadelphia. This was 
the first ocean voyage ever made by a steam vessel. This boat made 
regular trips between Trenton and Philadelphia for many years. 

In the meantime experiments in steam navigation were being 
made by a man who was soon to demonstrate its practical use and rev- 
olutionize the entire theory of ship building. Robert 
Robert Fttlton Fulton was of Irish descent and was bom in Lancas- 
ter County, Pennsylvania in 1765. His father died 
when Robert was but three years old and all the education he received 
was at the village school at Lancaster. His taste for mechanics and 
for drawing and painting was displayed very early, and he was so suc- 
cessful with the latter that at the age of seventeen he was earning 
his own living by this means. In 1786 he went to England, where 
he lived for some years with Benjamin West, the celebrated 



American painter. In 1797 he went to Paris, where he resided until 
his return to America in 1806. During all this time he was busy 
planning new inventions and mechanical schemes. Among the devices 
which he invented or experimented with, were machines for spinning 
flax and making ropes, for which he obtained patents; an excavator 
for scooping out thechannelsof canals; a submarine boat; submarine 
bombs, afterward known as torpedos, and many other contrivances. 

As early as 1793 Fulton had conceived the idea of using the 
steam engine for propelHng boats, and in 1798 he had offered plans 
for steam vessels both to the United States and to the British govern- 
ments. In 1802 he made a model of a small steamboat with paddle 
wheels. About this time he tried to interest Napoleon in the subject 
but without success. While in Paris he became acquainted with 
Robert R. Livingston, then Minister to France. Livingston, who had 
previously been connected with the experiments made by Stevens 
and Roosevelt, at once became interested in Fulton's ideas and 
offered to provide funds for his experiments. They began the con- 
struction of an experimental steamboat on a large scale, and in the 
spring of 1803 it was launched on the Seine. Fulton, however, had 
not made the vessel sufficiently strong, and when the machinery 
was placed on board, the boat broke through the middle and sank. He 

then built a second vessel, and placing the same 
Fulton's First machinery in it, made a trial trip in August, 1804. 
Boats This boat, however, moved so slowly that it was a 

complete failure. Fulton soon after this ordered a 
steam engine to be made by Watt and Bolton. This was completed 
and sent to New York in 1806. In the same year Fulton returned to 
America and at once began work on a boat in which to place the new 
machinery. It was built under Fulton's directions by Charles Brown, 
a well known ship builder of New York. This boat, which was the 
first to give a practical proof of the utihty of steam as a motive 

power for vessels, was launched in the spring of 
The Clermont 1807 and was named the "Clermont," after the 

residence of Fulton's associate. Chancellor Living- 
ston. It was 130 feet long, 18 feet beam and was provided with a 
single engine. 

The "Clermont" started on her first trip from New York to 
Albany at 1 P. M. on Monday, August 17, 1807. Robert Fulton and 
a few friends, some mechanics, and six passengers were on board. A 
large crowd of incredulous and jeering people had gathered on the 
shore to view the expected failure, but their ridicule was soon turned 
to amazement and admiration as the boat put off successfully and 
steamed rapidly up the river. 

The account of this epoch making voyage is best given by Ful- 
ton himself in a letter to the "American Citizen" : 
To the Editor of the "American Citizen" : 

" Sir — I arrived this afternoon at four o'clock in the steamboat 

10 



from Albany. As the success of my experiment gives me great hopes 
that such boats may be rendered of great import- 
The Clermont's ance to my country, to prevent erroneous opinions 
First Voyag'e ^"^ ^^ derive some satisfaction to the friends of 
useful improvements, you will have the goodness to 
publish the following statement of facts: 

"I left New York on Monday at one o'clock, and arrived at 
Clermont, the seat of Chancellor Livingston, at one; time, twenty- 
four hours; distance, one hundred and ten miles. On Wednesday I 
left the Chancellor's at nine in the morning, and arrived at Albany 
at five in the afternoon; distance, forty miles; time, eight hours. 

"The run is one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two hours, 
equal to nearly five miles an hour. On Thursday, at nine o'clock in 
the morning, I left Albany, and arrived at the Chancellor's at six in 
the evening. I started from thence at seven, and arrived at New 
York at four in the afternoon; time, thirty hours ; space run through, 
one hundred and fifty miles, equal to five miles an hour. Throughout 
my whole way, both going and returning, the wind was ahead. No 
advantage could be derived from my sail. The whole has therefore 
been performed by the power of the steam engine. 

"I am sir, your obedient servant, 

"Robert Fulton." 

Fulton also wrote to his friend Mr. Barlow as follows: 

"I overtook many sloops and schooners beating to windward, 
and parted with them as if they had been at anchor. The power of 
propelling boats by steam is now fully proved. The morning I left 
New York there were not thirty persons who believed that the boat 
would ever move one mile an hour or be of the least utility ; 
while we were passing off from the wharf, which was crowded with 
spectators, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks. This is the way 
in which ignorant men compliment what they call philosophers and 
projectors. Although the prospect of personal emolument has been 
some inducement to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure in reflect- 
ing on the immense advantages my country will derive from the in- 
vention." 

Professor Renwick gives the following description of the "Cler- 
mont" as she appeared on her first trip : 

" She was very unlike any of her successors, and very dissimi- 
lar from the shape in which she appeared a few months afterwards. 

With a model resembling a Long Island skiff, she 
Description of was decked for a short distance at stem and stern, 
the Clermont The engine was open to view, and from the engine 

aft a house like that of a canal-boat was raised to 
cover the boiler and the apartment for the oflftcers. There were no 
wheel-guards. The rudder was of the shape used in sailing vessels 
and moved by a tiller. The boiler was of the form then used in 

11 



Watt's engines, and was set in masonry. The condenser was of the 
size used habitually in land engines, and stood, as was the practice in 
them, in a large cold-water cistern. The weight of the masonry and 
the great capacity of the cold-water cistern diminished very materi- 
ally the buoyancy of the vessel. The rudder had so Httle power that 
she could hardly be managed. The skippers of the river craft, who 
at once saw that their business was doomed, took advantage of the 
unwieldiness of the vessel to run foul of her as often as they thought 
they had the law on their side. Thus in several instances the steamer 
reached one or the other termini of the route with but a single 
wheel." 

Before the season closed the wheels were covered by a frame of 
strong beams, the paddles were enclosed and the rudder was changed 
to the pattern now commonly used on river boats, and the vessel was 
thus better protected and more easily controlled. During the follow- 
ing winter she was almost entirely rebuilt, enlarged, and more com- 
fortably fitted up. At the end of the second season she proved too 
small to accommodate the crowds who wished to travel on her, and in 
a short time two more steamboats were built by Fulton and added to 
the line. Steam navigation had now achieved success and its future 
history is a record of steady and rapid improvement. 

In September, 1811, Colonel Stevens built and put in operation 
the first steam ferryboat ever made. She was named the "Juliana," 
and was run between Hoboken and Vesey street. 
First Steam New York. After running a short time she was 

Ferry Boat ^^i^ ^V for the winter. On April 12, 1812, she re- 

sumed her trips and continued that season and part 
of the next. Then the New York State law granting a monopoly of 
steam navigation to Fulton, was invoked against it, and Stevens was 
compelled to withdraw his boat to avoid its being seized and confis- 
cated. 

In the meantime Elisha Boudinot, General Cummings and a 
number of other Newark men subscribed $50, 000 to start a steam ferry 

between Jersey City and New York, and Fulton was 
Jersey City asked to build boats suitable for the purpose. In 

"Petty March, 1811, they obtained a lease of Jersey City 

ferry and the privilege of landing on the New York 
side. Fulton ordered two boats to be built by Charles Brown, the 
builder of the "Clermont," and on July 2, 1812, one of them, which 
was christened the "Jersey," was completed and put in operation. 
Owing to some necessary alterations it was taken off for a few days, 
but on July 17, 1812, regular trips were begun. This boat was con- 
structed on a plan different from the "Clermont." The best idea of 
its appearance may be had from Fulton's own description : 

"She is built of two boats, each ten feet beam, eighty feet 
long, and five feet deep in the hold ; which boats are distant from 

12 



each other ten feet, confined by strong transverse beam knees and 
diagonal traces, forming a deck thirty feet wide 
The ** Jersey ^' ^^^ eighty feet long. The propelling water wheel 
is placed between the boats to prevent it from in- 
jury from ice and shocks on entering or approaching the dock. The 
whole of the machinery being placed between the two boats leaves 
ten feet on the deck of each boat for carriages, horses, cattle, etc. ; 
the other having neat benches and covered with an awning, is for 
passengers, and there is also a passage and stairway to a neat cabin, 
which is fifty feet long and five feet clear from the floor to the 
beams, furnished with benches and provided with a stove in winter. 
Although the two boats and the space between them give thirty feet 
beam, yet they present sharp bows to the water, and have only the 
resistance in the water of one boat twenty feet beam. Both ends be- 
ing alike, and each having a rudder, she never puts about." 

In 1813 the "York," built on the same plan as the "Jersey," 
was completed and put in operation. The boats were run regularly 
every half hour during the day. This was the first permanent steam 
ferry ever established. The "Jersey" was in service many years 
and when finally condemned was broken up and sold to Mr. Isaac 
Edge, one of the first settlers and the pioneer manufacturer of Jerse 
City. From the material obtained from the remains of the "Jersey," 
he built a stable adjoining his home on Greene street. From a portion 
of the wood two canes were made as souvenirs of the first steam ferry 
boat. These canes are still preserved in the Edge family. 

It may be of interest to record that in November, 1804, Fulton 

bought a block of ground in Jersey City, on which 
Fulton's Shops he afterward established his work shops. His f oun- 
in Jersey City dry was situated at what is now the corner of 

Greene and Morgan streets, with a dry dock in 
front of it. Here much of the machinery used in his early steam- 
boats was made. 

Colonel Stevens' application of steam to ferrj' boats had been 
made principally for the purpose of attracting settlers and visitors to 

the town of Hoboken by giving them a quicker and 
Team Boats pleasanter means of transit than was afforded by 

the sail and row boats which had been previously 
used. It was therefore a bitter disappointment when the law was 
invoked to prevent the use of the steam ferry boat which he had 
invented. He was not discouraged, however, and soon devised a 
scheme for moving ferry boats which won immediate success and 
popularity. This was the horse ferryboat which he claimed to be the 
first to put into operation. These boats had a circular platform in 
the center ; the shaft of the paddlewheel was made to revolve by 
means of cranks on a small wheel on either side of the shaft, geared 
to a large wheel on an upright spindle with arms extending over the 
platform, and to these arms, horses or mules were attached. Owing 

13 



to their greater economy over the early steamboats and also because 
of the legal restrictions on the use of steam, these horse boats were 
used for many years on the Hoboken and also on other ferries on the 
North and East rivers. 

As soon as Colonel Stevens had tried his horse boat and found it 
successful he petitioned the authorities of New York City for landing 
accommodations on the New York side of the river. He offered to 
bear the expense of the necessary improvements if he were granted 
an extension of his lease for five years, on condition that his boats 
should be found satisfactory, after a suitable trial. In May, 1815, he 
invited the authorities to make a trial trip on the new boat. The trip 
was made and proved successful, and there was every indication that 
the ferry would be popular and that visitors would be attracted to 
Hoboken. Unfortunately, however, in January, 1817, Stevens made an 
agreement with three brothers by name of Swartwout giving them a 
ten years' lease of the Hoboken ferries. Within a year the Swartwouts 
failed, the boats and horses were seized and sold by the sheriff, and 
were bought by Philip Hone. In May, 1818, the authorities of New 
York gave Hone a twelve years' lease of the ferry and he at once com- 
menced operations. 

Hone's methods of running the ferry soon became very unsatis- 
factory to Stevens. The boats were not properly managed and the 
trip was long, uncomfortable and uncertain. This, of course, dis- 
couraged visitors and thereby depreciated Stevens' property. Beside 
this the boats were not run after eight o'clock in the evening and this 
prevented people coming from New York to the evening entertain- 
ments given in Hoboken. 

Stevens tried to effect a compromise with Hone but without 
success. He then began preparations to establish an opposition ferry. 
In May, 1821, however, his sons John C. and Robert L. Stevens 
bought Hone's interests and the ferry was turned over to them. 
Stevens finding that the horse boats could no longer compete with the 
steamboats, asked the New York Legislature for relief from the 
monopoly of steam navigation held by Fulton and Livingston. The 
Legislature did nothing in the matter, but in spite of this the city of 
New York granted the Stevens a fourteen years' lease of the ferries 
on condition that they would place a steamboat on the Vesey street 
ferry which would give as good service as the two team boats then 
in use. 

The Messrs. Stevens at once began the construction of a steam 
ferry boat that would comply with these conditions, and notified the 
proprietors of the Paulus Hook ferry that they were "fully determined 
to run steamboats on the ferry to and from Hoboken and New York." 
The "Hoboken Steamboat Ferry Co. " was incorporated on November 
3, 1821, and a steamboat put in operation in 1822 and a second one in 
1823. Apparently no effort was made to interfere with the running 

14 



of these boats. The legality of the Livingston steamboat monopoly 
was being hotly contested in the courts, and in 1824 the United 
States Supreme Court declared the law invalid. 

As several allusions have been made to the steamboat monopoly 
held by Fulton and Livingston, it may be interesting to give some 
particular^ of the fierce legal battle which resulted in its overthrow. 

In 1798 Robert R. Livingston secured from the New York 
Legislature the exclusive rights for steam navigation on the waters 
of New York State. This privilege was given un- 
Steamboat der certain conditions which Livingston failed to 

Monopoly fulfil. In 1803 Livingston obtained for himself and 

Robert Fulton similar privileges, provided they 
should "within two years, by means of steam, move a twenty ton 
boat, four miles an hour against the current of the Hudson River." 
Through the powerful influence of Livingston the time was extended, 
until in 1807 the "Clermont" made her successful trip up the Hudson 
and thereby enabled her owners to claim the exclusive rights granted 
in these acts. The New York Legislature then extended the term of 
the monopoly five years for every additional boat they should build, 
provided the whole term should not exceed thirty years. On the 11th 
of April, 1808, a further act was passed providing that any steamboat 
which should be run upon the waters of New York State, or within 
jurisdiction thereof, in contravention of these exclusive rights, should 
be forfeited to Messrs. Livingston and Fulton. 

New York claimed control of all the waters of the Hudson up to 
the Jersey shore and these acts therefore compelled Colonel Stevens 
to discontinue the running of the steamboat which he had invented 
and put in operation only a few days after the first voyage of Fulton's 
"Clermont." 

A bitter contest now arose between the two states. On 
January 25, 1811, New Jersey passed an act declaring "that the citi- 
zens of New Jersey have a full and equal right to navigate, and have 
and use vessels and boats upon all the waters lying between the 
states of New Jersey and New York, in all cases whatever not pro- 
hibited by the constitution, or any law of the United States." The 
act .then goes on to provide, that any person whose boat may be 
seized under the law of New York, shall have a right to retaliate upon 
any steamboat, belonging to citizens of that state, which may come 
into New Jersey waters. In April, 1811, the New York Legislature 
passed another law authorizing Livingston and his associates to seize 
any steamboat infringing on their monopoly, and providing that such 
boat should be held until the determination of the suit. 

In the meantime Colonel Aaron Ogden had built a steamboat which 
he named the "Sea Horse," and in connection with Daniel Dod had 
estabhshed a ferry between Elizabethtown and New York. In defi- 
ance of the New York laws, the New Jersey Legislature on November 

15 



3, 1813, passed an act granting Aaron Ogden and Daniel Dod, the ex- 
clusive right to run steamboats in the waters of New Jersey. The 
Livingstons immediately attacked the law and appealed to the next 
legislature of New Jersey, in 1814, for the repeal of the act. Then 
followed a legal battle in which the greatest lawyers of the time took 
part. The Livingstons were represented by Thomas Addis Emmet, 
the celebrated Irish patriot and^orator; and Ogden and Dod were rep- 
resented by Samuel L. Southard and Joseph Hopkinson. The debate 
was long and brilliant but the New Jersey grant to Ogden and Dod 
was repealed February 4, 1815. 

Colonel Ogden then tried to get New York to repeal the 
Livingston-Fulton monopoly, and appearing before the New York 
Legislature, argued that the law granting a monopoly of steam navi- 
gation in all the waters of New York was contrary to the Constitution 
of the United States. A repealer of the law passed the Assembly 
but was lost in the Senate by one vote. Ogden then compromised 
with the Livingstons and bought from them the exclusive right 
to run steamboats between Elizabethtown and New York for ten 
years. 

During these disputes Thomas Gibbons, a wealthy Southerner, 
who passed his summers at his country home at Elizabethtown, 
started a rival steamboat line to New York. Colonel Ogden in 1818 
obtained an injunction against Gibbons from the Chancellor of New 
York. The task of defending the steamboat monopoly now fell upon 
Colonel Ogden, who had been previously one of its bitterest opponents. 
Gibbons was a lawyer of unusual ability, a man of wealth and of un- 
tiling energy, but Colonel Ogden was stubborn and persevering in 
his efforts to secure his rights. The question was contested with 
great obstinacy on both sides, suit after suit was brought and the 
case carried from court to court. The New York Courts issued a 
perpetual injunction against Gibbon's boats entering the harbor of 
New York, and declared that under the law no boat propelled by 
"fire or steam" could enter the waters of New York State without 
first obtaining a license from Fulton and Livingston. Finally the case 
was carried to the United States Supreme Court. In 1821 the Supreme 
Court dismissed Gibbon's case on technical grounds. Gibbons con- 
tinued the fight, however, and engaged Daniel Webster to conduct 
the case. Webster made a brilliant argument, holding the monopoly 
to be unconstitutional and that the words in the United States Con- 
stitution "to regulate commerce" placed the absolute control of com- 
merce in the hands of the Federal Government. At the February 
term in 1824 the United States Supreme Court decided that no state 
could grant a monopoly of navigation; and that all such laws of New 
York State which conflicted with this decision were unconstitutional. 
Thus ended the oppressive steamboat monopoly, but the long contest 
had ruined Colonel Ogden, destroying his fortune and wrecking his life. 

The boundary dispute between New Jersey and New York 

16 



which had complicated the steamboat case and served to aggravate 
the bitterness of that contest was not settled till 
Boundary many years later. Previous to 1833 New York had 

Dispute always claimed ownership and control over all the 

waters, and lands under water, of the Hudson 
River up to low water mark on the Jersey shore. New Jersey had 
never admitted or acquiesced in this claim. In 1829 suit was brought 
in the United States Supreme Court against the State of New York ; 
New Jersey claiming that she was entitled to ownership and control 
of the waters, and lands under the waters of the Hudson, to the mid- 
dle of the river. This suit was not pressed, but as a result three 
commissioners were appointed by each State to negotiate an agree- 
ment as to the territorial limits and jurisdiction of New York and 
New Jersey. These commissioners drew up an agreement which was 
ratified by both States in 1834. By this treaty New York abandoned 
its previous claims, and the boundary between the two States was de- 
clared to be the middle of the Hudson River, New York Bay, and the 
waters between Staten Island and New Jersey, subject to certain 
conditions, which gave New York jurisdiction over the waters of the 
Bay and the Hudson south of Spuyten Duyvel Creek. 

This agreement was soon found to be unsatisfactory and gave 
rise to renewed controversy. The question of jurisdiction was not 
clearly defined, and there was doubt as to what was to be considered 
the middle of the river, whether the middle of the area of water re- 
gardless of its depth, or the middle of the channel. 

About 1870 the Central Railroad of New Jersey began making 
improvements at Communipaw by filling in and extending the land 
toward the channel of the Hudson. Under the treaty of 1834, New 
York claimed jurisdiction over the land and improvements, and the 
matter was taken to the New York Court of Appeals. After a care- 
ful review of the questions involved, they rendered a decision that 
the agreement of 1834 fixed the boundary line at the middle of the 
channel of the river and bay, and that the jurisdiction given to New 
York was only for police and sanitary purposes. 

In 1888 New York and New Jersey appointed commissioners 
who were empowered to meet and locate the boundary line between 
the two States. These commissioners met and after some discussion 
it was decided that the boundary hne should be the middle of the 
channel of the Hudson River, New York Bay, and the Kill Von Kull 
and the Arthur Kill. This boundary line was carefully defined and 
marked out, and after two hundred years of controversy and dispute 
the boundary between New Jersey and New York was finally settled. 



17 



The Hudson River. 



The Hudson River rises in the Adirondack Mountains and is 
formed by two short branches. The northern branch has its source 
at the base of Mount Mclntyre; the eastern branch near the summit 
of Mount Marcy, in a small lake called the "Tear of the Clouds," 
4,321 feet above the sea. At Glens Falls it has a fall of fifty feet, 
and soon after takes a southerly course and flows nearly in a straight 
line to New York City, where it empties into New York Bay. At 
Newburgh the river enters the Highlands which rise abruptly from 
the water to a height of 1,200 to 1,600 feet and the scenery is particularly 
beautiful. Emerging from the Highlands it widens into a broad ex- 
panse called Tappan Zee. Below, on the west bank, rises an almost 
straight and perpendicular wall of trap rock from 300 to 500 feet high, 
called the Palisades, extending for fifteen miles along the river. The 
entire length of the Hudson is about 300 miles, and it is navigable for 
large steamboats from New York to Troy, a distance of 150 miles. 
Its principal tributaries are the Mohawk, Hoosac, Walkill and Croton. 

Some of the principal cities and towns of the United States are 
on the Hudson. At its junction with the East River on Manhattan 
Island stands New York City, the metropolis of our country and one 
of the most important cities of the world. Opposite on the Jersey 
side is Jersey City, with about 250,000 inhabitants. Just above Jersey 
City is Hoboken which is the docking place for some of the greatest 
trans-Atlantic steamship lines. A little further up the river on the 
Jersey side is Weehawken, famous as the scene of the duel between 
Burr and Hamilton in 1804. Yonkers, 17 miles above New York on 
the east side is an important town. Tarrytown is on the east side 26 
miles from New York, and it was here that Major Andre was captured 
and the treason of Benedict Arnold was discovered. On the same 
side of the river a few miles further up is Ossining, formerly known 
as Sing Sing, where the New York State Prison is situated. Stony 
Point, some miles above on the west bank is famous as the site of a 
strong fort which was captured from the British by "Mad" Anthony 
Wayne on July 15, 1779, one of the most briUiant exploits of the 
Revolution. At West Point is the United States Military Academy. 
Newburgh is of interest to all Americans as the place where Wash- 
ngton had his headquarters during one of the most trying periods of 
the Revolution, and where at the close of the war the army was dis- 
banded and the farewell orders of Washington were read on the morn- 
ing of November 3, 1783. Poughkeepsie, 74 miles from New York on 
the east side of the river is an important city. Here is situated 
Vassar College, the earliest and most famous college for women. 

18 



Kingston on the west side is one of the oldest towns on the river. 
Here the Constitution of New York State was adopted and George 
Clinton, the first Governor of New York, took the oath of office. 
Catskill, 110 miles up the river, is a flourishing town and is of import- 
ance as being one of the principal gateways to the Catskill Mountains. 
Hudson, another important town, is on the east side, a few miles 
above. Albany, on the west side, 144 miles from New York City, is 
the capital of New York State and one of the oldest and most import- 
ant cities on the Hudson. A few miles further is Troy, a large manu- 
facturing city, situated at the head of navigation for large vessels. 

The Hudson was first seen by Europeans in 1524 when Verra- 
zano, an Italian navigator, sailed a short distance up the river. Not 
long after, Gomez, a Portuguese navigator sailed up New York Bay, 
and probably other explorers visited these waters, but it was Henry 
Hudson who first made the river known to the world in 1609, and to 
him therefore has justly been given the honor of its discovery. 

The Hudson River has been given many names. The Mohicans 
and the Lenapes, the tribes of Indians who lived on the Jersey shores, 
called it "Mahicannituk" or the "ever flowing waters." Verrazano 
named it "Rio de Montaigne." Hudson called it "Manhattes, " from 
the tribe of Indians who lived near its mouth. The Dutch named it 
the "Mauritius" in honor of Prince Mam-ice of Nassau in 1611 and 
afterward "De Groote Riviere" or the Great River. It has also been 
called the North River. It was the English who first called it "Hud- 
son's River" in honor of the great explorer who made it known to 
the world. 

The Hudson is one of the most famous rivers of the world. Its 
scenic beauty is unrivalled and it is often called the "American 
Rhine." It is the natural gateway to a great continent and its situa- 
tion has made it one of the most important commercial highways of 
this country. Its historical and literary associations are many and 
varied, and as the scene of many of the greatest events in the early 
history of our country it is endeared to all patriotic Americans. 



19 



OCT 11 lyno 



FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 

JERSEY CITY, N. J. 



Ex-Officio 



BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

HON. H. OTTO WITTPENN, Mayor - 
HENRY SNYDER, SuPT. of Schools 
NELSON J. H. EDGE DAVID R. DALY 

BENJAMIN L. STOWE DAVID W. LAWRENCE 

.QORDON K. DICKINSON, M. D. 



OFFICERS 

Benjamin L. Stowe, - - : President 

David R. Daly, - Treasurer 

Esther E. Burdick, .-. ,3 Librarian 

Edmund W. Miller, _ . . - jj-n'^i,* I.^ Secretary 



The Free Public Library of Jersey City was incorporated in 1889, 
and was opened to the public July 6, 1891, in temporary quarters in 
the basements of the buildings of the Hudson County National and 
Provident Savings Banks on Washington street. On May 24, 1899, 
the contract was awarded for the erection of the present building on 
Jersey avenue, the site of which had been purchased a few years 
before. On January 16, 1901, the new building was completed and 
opened to the public. 

The Library is a plain, substantial fireproof building of Colonial 
design, built of granite and buff brick. It is four stories high, with a 
steel book stack in the rear. The building is 190 feet front, and 46 
feet in depth; and the stack extension is 34 x 38 feet. 

When first opened, the Library contained 15,000 volumes; it now 
has 116,800 volumes upon its shelves. The total number of books used 
during 1908 numbered 711,964. The Library has two branches and 
maintains nineteen delivery stations, at which books are collected and 
delivered daily. 

In addition to a large circulating department, the Library contains 
a very complete collection of books of reference, including a Law 
Library of 5,000 volumes; a Medical Library of 2,500 volumes, and 
forty-two medical periodicals regularly kept on file; and a large collec- 
tion of books especially selected for the use of teachers and pupils of 
the schools. There are kept on file, in the reading rooms, nearly 400 
periodicals and newspapers. 

The Children's Department contains 5,000 volumes of books for 
home reading and a reading room for the special use of the children. 

20 



